THE CHRISTMAS SONG SHE DIDN'T STEAL

Mariah Carey released All I Want for Christmas Is You in 1994. Written with Walter Afanasieff, it became one of the most successful Christmas songs ever recorded and eventually returned to the charts every December.

Nearly three decades later, songwriters Andy Stone — who performs as Vince Vance — and Troy Powers accused Carey of copying their earlier country song with the same title. Stone first brought proceedings in 2022 before withdrawing them. The claim returned in 2023, this time seeking $20 million.

The allegation extended beyond the shared title. Stone and Powers argued that both songs used a similar narrative: someone rejecting presents and seasonal comforts because the only thing they wanted for Christmas was another person. They claimed there was an overwhelming likelihood that Carey and Afanasieff had heard their song.

The accusation was easily condensed into a headline: Mariah Carey had stolen the song most closely associated with her.

The evidence required a more detailed comparison.

Carey's lawyers argued that neither a familiar title nor conventional Christmas imagery could belong exclusively to one songwriter. Their expert identified at least 19 earlier songs containing similar lyrical ideas. The two recordings also differed substantially in their melodies, harmonies, rhythms and lyrics.

On 19 March 2025, federal judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani granted summary judgment in Carey's favour. She concluded that Stone and Powers had failed to demonstrate substantial similarity between the songs. The elements they shared were commonplace Christmas conventions used differently in each work.

The judge also criticised the way the case had been pursued, describing parts of the litigation as frivolous and unsupported by evidence. She ordered the claimants and their lawyers to contribute towards the defendants' legal fees. Carey was later awarded more than $92,000.

The songs shared a title and familiar festive language. That was not enough to establish copying.

The allegation asked for $20 million and placed a question mark over a song known around the world. The judgment removed it: Mariah Carey had not stolen All I Want for Christmas Is You.

SOURCES